Last month I stayed at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky for the better part of a week. The monks there are predominantly contemplative. They pray the Divine Office, largely composed of the Psalms, which they chant in unison, seven times a day. However, they also perform various kinds of work there at the monastery. They have made cheese and fudge and fruitcake. Some of them write spiritual texts. Others plant and grow and pick fruits and vegetables on the grounds of the abbey. Still others tend the grounds of the abbey.
During my stay at the abbey, I got to speak with a couple of the monks more than once. One of them entered the abbey when he was relatively young, and he is now elderly. He mentioned more than once to me that he had authored a booklet containing some of his spiritual musings. Since he mentioned the booklet to me multiple times, I figured I should pick it up from the abbey bookstore. Accordingly, I stopped into the bookstore and bought this monk's booklet. In it he relates how he was asked to change jobs at the abbey. I took his change of situation as a good example to follow, and as a way to help maintain perspective. Things could be more challenging than they have been for me, and in additional ways than they already are.
I have a warm, encouraging, sympathetic, patient, accommodating and helpful principal as my boss now. I have co-workers, both teachers and staff alike, who are pleasant, helpful and supportive. I work in a calm, serene, sane workplace.
Given that I feel unversed in teaching a group of students with such a wide range of abilities, I have felt severely challenged in this work. However, I chose this job, unlike the monk I noted above, who was being asked to take on a new position, who knew nothing about the kind of new work he was being asked to start doing. Further, I am not making this career shift as an elderly person, unlike the monk I described above who changed jobs once he was aged. He made those changes as an elderly person, being flexible despite his age, adapting to the new and unfamiliar demands made upon him. I am not so challenged as he was. As I consider him, I feel called to keep my situation in perspective. I am reminded that my situation could be more challenging than it is. And I take him as inspiration. May we all accept what we are called to do as he did.
During my stay at the abbey, I got to speak with a couple of the monks more than once. One of them entered the abbey when he was relatively young, and he is now elderly. He mentioned more than once to me that he had authored a booklet containing some of his spiritual musings. Since he mentioned the booklet to me multiple times, I figured I should pick it up from the abbey bookstore. Accordingly, I stopped into the bookstore and bought this monk's booklet. In it he relates how he was asked to change jobs at the abbey. I took his change of situation as a good example to follow, and as a way to help maintain perspective. Things could be more challenging than they have been for me, and in additional ways than they already are.
I have a warm, encouraging, sympathetic, patient, accommodating and helpful principal as my boss now. I have co-workers, both teachers and staff alike, who are pleasant, helpful and supportive. I work in a calm, serene, sane workplace.
Given that I feel unversed in teaching a group of students with such a wide range of abilities, I have felt severely challenged in this work. However, I chose this job, unlike the monk I noted above, who was being asked to take on a new position, who knew nothing about the kind of new work he was being asked to start doing. Further, I am not making this career shift as an elderly person, unlike the monk I described above who changed jobs once he was aged. He made those changes as an elderly person, being flexible despite his age, adapting to the new and unfamiliar demands made upon him. I am not so challenged as he was. As I consider him, I feel called to keep my situation in perspective. I am reminded that my situation could be more challenging than it is. And I take him as inspiration. May we all accept what we are called to do as he did.
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